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Things to do this week in NYC Apr 30-May 7: Music

Jazz, Hip-Hop, Reggae, or the classics ? New York City venues feature music from all cultures. Whether you're catching an aria at Lincoln Center, or checking out a band at Central Park Summerstage, NYC has a gig you won't want to miss.

Featuring Lou Reed, Laurie Anderson, Mike Patton, Marc Ribot, Dave Douglas, Uri Caine, Joey Baron, John Zorn, and others. Discover the wide spectrum of innovative work by maverick music master John Zorn in this not-to-be-missed marathon of his compositions performed by some of his diverse musical groups. The evening features the hypnotic minimalist propulsion of "The Goddess", dynamic Jewish Jazz courtesy of "The Masada Sextet", the intensity of modern rock with the New York premiere of "Moonchild", and a mind-bending collaboration with avant-garde innovators "Euphoria".

David McVicar's popular production returns with Patricia Racette, Sondra Radvanovsky, Dolora Zajick, Marcelo Alvarez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Zeljko Lucic. James Levine and Marco Armiliato conduct. A co-production of the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the San Francisco Opera Association.

On Saturday, April 30 at 8:00 p.m., Carnegie Hall presents a concert entitled Music of Steve Reich celebrating the composer's 75th birthday year with an all-star lineup of some of today's leading contemporary music ensembles performing the newest scores by the legendary composer. The program features the New York premieres of WTC 9/11 (co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall) performed by Kronos Quartet, Mallet Quartet by So Percussion, and 2 x 5 by Bang on a Can All-Stars and Friends and eighth blackbird. Also on the program is Reich's Pulitzer Prize-winning (and past Carnegie Hall commission) Double Sextet performed by both eighth blackbird and Bang on a Can All-Stars and Friends.

EVERY SATURDAY LATE NIGHT at The Highline Ballroom: The Rewind Show with live performances and celebrity DJs. File Under: Rock, Dance, Electronic, Late Night. 21 or over to enter. Doors at 10:30pm, Show at 11:00pm. $20 at door. RSVP to info@4kent.com. The Rewind Show is a vision we have had for as long as we have been in the business of night clubs and event planning. We are tired of the same concept that every night-club in NYC has been stuck with over the years and think that it's time to change the way to party! As we all know nothing can compare to a live performance and therefore we have created the Rewind Show! We want to bring an experience like no other by combining the live music of the 80's Rock & Roll era along with the best DJ's spinning the present hits. Every Saturday night, the Highline Ballroom will operate as a high-end night club to let people experience the Rewind Show.

It should be noted that the incredible events following that first class are hazy at best. Historians believe that the six original families were each given a cassette of Weinstone's songs for their children to listen to at home. Bootleg copies were made and circulated around the neighborhood and within a few weeks angry (well, at least disappointed) mobs of stroller pushing parents were being turned away at the door. It is well documented that Fox 5's Good Day New York, Metro Guide TV, NYU Arts and many small local papers and radio stations ran features on the music and the classes. This, along with strong word of mouth and the continued spread of the tapes transformed a fledgling music program into a bona-fide local phenomenon. Within one year of it's conception MFA had become a household name in New York City.
The children's songs by David Weinstone, originally intended for use simply as a reference to class activities, have since captured the imagination and touched the hearts of families all across the country and around the world. Today MFA continues to enjoy astounding success and praise with recent full-page profiles in Time Magazine, The New York Times and The New York Daily News. National exposure seems imminent as more and more music educators discover the music that so many children have already come to treasure, and utilize it in their school programs.
Experts agree, something very exciting and new came into being that fateful day 4.5 billion years ago, and then again on September 7th 1997. What impact these events will have in the grand scheme of things both past and future is yet to be seen, and yet to be written.

Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, in the Fifties and Sixties, the embodiment of the urban melting pot. I surely was melted, a mix of black, white, Puerto Rican with a faint trace of Cherokee. My grandfather was head waiter at Lundy's, the world-famous Brooklyn seafood restaurant. Those were the days when it was honorable for a black man to be a waiter, an elevator operator, a soldier or a porter, like my father was at one time. I used to ride along with him on the Pennsylvania Railroad, the New York to DC line, and there was nothing more exciting than sleeping in the double deckers and watching the towns roll by. My mother had me when she was sixteen and she named me after seeing the word on a fancy box of cards. She was just a kid, and music was the soundtrack of her life, just like rap is today--only her music was Duke Ellington, Dinah Washington, Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and even Benny Goodman. I soaked it up. It was background to the forty eight hour card games that floated from one apartment to another, when they would put little Garland to sleep in the bottom dresser drawer. The adults were cool. They talked jive. Daddy-o and doojie, hep and hipster and, "Man, I was with that cat when he flipped out." There were characters all around...Davey Nichols, Stetson, Spook, Sister, Shorty Bolden...people I knew and heard about who hinted at dangerous things. In truth, I didn't need to look far for influences, not when my uncle was living downstairs and up to no good. To balance that out, there were families like the Haynes, a few blocks over, who came from the West Indies. They built houses, bought real estate, and lived a clean, sober life. Mr. Haynes lived to be one hundred, with eight of his children gathered around him on his birthday. Most of the kids in my public school were Jewish or Italian. Starting in kindergarten, I used to have crushes on the white girls. Once I got called into the principal's office for slipping one a love note. They called my father in and he defended me. "From this note, it seems to me Garland likes this girl. I don't see anything wrong here." My father was raised an orphan in Harlem. Later in life he told me how at four years old he used to scamper across rooftops early in the morning, then drop down to steal milk from the stoops. I never went hungry. But when I was little I would cut across the yard to Sweetie Pie, the neighbor lady's house and ring the bell. She would call me Frankie Boy and give me pickles and a biscuit. Today my six year old daughter walks down the street and rings the doorbell to get a cookie from our neighbor. I'm sure I never told her the story about Frankie Boy. Hard wired...

That voice. It punches through the stratosphere, down along a sunbeam, and straight into your heart. Jon Anderson has been the lead singer of Yes, one of the most long-lived and successful rock acts in history, for more than three decades (give or take a few respites when the drama got too thick). Perhaps more than any other element in this progressive rock flagship, it is Anderson's vocals that instantly identify what you're hearing as Yes Music, a complex, giddy, positive amalgamation of rock's fire and classical music's grace. English folk, American pop, and plugged-in jazz also rear their heads on album oriented FM-radio staples like "I've Seen All Good People," "Owner of a Lonely Heart," and "Long Distance Runaround." Anderson is also the band's lyricist and his stanzas are full of light and cries for peace, wondrous journeys and whales, cosmic travelers and seafarers happily adrift. He remains one of the few people in rock that continues to espouse the same cool values that came out of the '60s social movements around the globe. His voice, a strange otherworldly thing, high and pure, never comes across as anything other than achingly sincere. He believes in the power of music to change the world for the better. He believed that in 1968 when he met bassist Chris Squire and formed a fresh idea for what a rock band might be and he believes it today with a force that's frankly pretty infectious. Talking to Jon, I started to feel that all the gunfire in the distance might actually one day be a thing of the past. It is not a thought that I'm able to capture very often and it speaks to the power emanating from this distinctive spirit.

Vocal sensation Xiomara Laugart is a legend in her native Cuba. She has performed with the country's greatest musicians, starred as Celia Cruz in Celia, the Musical, and was lead vocalist for the Latin fusion band Yerba Buena. Her sultry, powerful voice and commanding stage presence win over any audience.
Co-presented with the World Music Institute
General Admission - $22
WMI Members - $18

The Digitour is the first ever large scale 6 week, 27 city North American tour bringing your favorite-iconic YouTube musicians to life. The stellar line up features artists with a combined one billion views and over six million combined fan subscriptions, these artists include MysteryGuitarGuy (2,123,415), Dave Days (1,561,114), The Gregory Bros. (aka AutoTune The News) (847,487), David Choi (770,655), Destorm (810,782), Ricky Ficarelli (46,089), Wheezy Waiter (292,623), Nice Peter (324,253), Meghan Tonjes (155,333).

Facial hair can make the man – or make the boy into the man. Show up to Pacha tonight rocking your best mustache (girls can play too – fake lip fringe accepted) and get FREE entry before 12. Or join us later in the evening and snag your free faux ‘stache. Either way, you’ll be enjoying the tribalistic sounds of Iberican resident DJs Chus & Ceballos – who will be rocking their own wily whiskers.
Free admission before 12 midnight for all guys and girls with mustaches!
(+ free mustaches for first 2000 paying customers)
$10 ADMISSION BEFORE 12 MIDNIGHT on the list
Click here to get on the list...
http://www.pachanyc.com/guestlist_043011.html
GET TICKETS:
http://pacha-nyc.clubtickets.com/us/2011-04/30/chus-and-ceballos-pacha-nyc
Doors 10pm
Table Reservations 212.209.7500

Negar Booban, Oud and Vocals -- The abundant references to the metamorphosis of spring that are found in Persian poetry constitute the theme for this solo performance by outstanding Iranian musician Negar Booban, who returns to Alwan after her successful sold-out debut performance in 2009.

City Opera presents the New York premiere of the first opera by Stephen Schwartz, the Oscar and Grammy Award-winning composer. Schwartz bases his new psychological drama on the novel by Mark McShane and Bryan Forbes's 1964 film noir adaptation. The mesmerizing Lauren Flanigan stars as an ambitious psychic who devises and elaborate kidnapping scheme so that her "vision" can ensure a successful recovery, a generous ransom, and the fame she desperately craves. Boldly beautiful in its concept and staging, this compelling production takes audiences on a thrilling, suspenseful ride to the limits of tragedy.

Dicapo's 2010-11 season concludes with Tchaikovsky's celebrated opera Eugene Onegin, Pushkin's story of a selfish hero who lives to regret his callous rejection of a young woman's love – and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend. The libretto follows closely Pushkin's immortal novel written in verse. First performed at Moscow's Maly Theatre in 1879, Eugene Onegin conveys the romance and drama of a vanished world that the passage of time has reduced to the mere dimensions of a paperweight filled with snow. Born in Kiev, Moscow Conservatory-trained conductor Semyon Vekshtein last performed Onegin – with its unforgettable solo aria for Tatyana in the "Letter Scene" and the famous waltz and polonaise – in a joint production of the Montreal Opera and Florentine Opera Milwaukee. This new production will be Dicapo's second Russian opera in its history; the first was Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, presented in 1997. $50.

Sky View Center, Queens’ newest shopping center presents Sky View Celebrates! A Sunday Music Spectacular featuring CenterStage: The Queens Center for the Performing Arts. The show-stopping series will run through the summer and feature a variety of jazz, classical string quartets, piano and percussion performances by the talented students and all-star faculty of CenterStage.
The Pianist Recital will feature an afternoon of delightful music featuring members of the CenterStage piano faculty. The event will take place at Sky View Center on Level D offering visitors a chance to enjoy the various musical talents of the local community while shopping around Sky View Center. www.facebook.com/skyviewcenter

Hailing from Oakland, California comes Del the Funky Homosapien no doubt a true innovator and legend in the world of underground Hip-hop. Del got his start rapping behind his cousin, Ice Cube, as a member of his back-up band and crew. After parting ways, Del ventured out as a solo artist, making music that immediately gained attention. Del's music offered a fresh new outlook on an otherwise gangsta rap controlled California Hip-Hop scene. His viewpoint offered a more detached alternative style laced with humorous rhymes and funky beats. After securing a deal with Elektra Records, Del released two critically acclaimed albums, I Wish my brother George was here (1991) and No need for alarm (1993). Despite record sales in the hundreds of thousands, his third album, Future Development, was never commercially released. Fed up with the commercialized music industry, Del began working with his crew, the Hieroglyphics, to create a massive independent network of Oakland based Hip-Hop. The crew began to successfully release projects under their own Hieroglyphics Emporium label. Del, joined by a talented coalition of emcees, including Pep Love, the Souls of Mischief, Casual, and Domino, went on to create a critically acclaimed album called 3rd Eye Vision ( 1998). With the release of the album, "Hiero" went on the road and toured incessantly, supporting the album for much of 1998. Since their inception, the Hieroglyphics crew has developed a cult like following, while giving each one of their artists the creative freedom to expand. For his next solo effort, Del demanded complete control and came out with 17 tracks of pure Del funkiness. He handled the majority of the production on the album but also collaborated with some of Hip-Hop's finest including Prince Paul and El-P(Def Jux). The album, titled Both Sides of the brain, again garnered excellent reviews. Rolling Stone magazine commented, "Del's elastic language is the real star here. Rhyming about everything from The Hobbit to Joe Piscopo, he cements his status as rap's staunchly independent lord of the underground and perhaps the best rapper you've never heard." Continuing to grow in popularity, Del would soon solidify himself as one of Hip-Hop's most versatile artists. Linking up with powerhouse producer Dan "the Automator" Nakamura and world-class turntablist Kid Koala, Del helped to create one of the most innovative Hip-Hop albums in recent history. Deltron 3030 received wonderful reviews (4.5 stars from RollingStone) and continued on to further secure Del's place in Hip-Hop history. The ideas and concepts born with Deltron 3030 allowed for the creation of Del's next project, the globally embraced "Gorillaz" collaboration. With Dan "the Automator" Nakamura, Blur's Damon Albarn, Tom Tom Club's Tona Weymouth, Buena Vista Social Club start Ibrahim Ferrer, and Kid Koala working together, the album was an immediate hit. Del's lead vocals on the smash single "Clint Eastwood" helped the Gorillaz sell over 5 million records worldwide. Del has successfully released quality, critically acclaimed material for over 10 years. There seems to be no stopping him and as history has shown. Del's lyrics and wordplay are the Midas touch to his wonderful taste in production. Del the Funky Homosapien has grown from the 17 year-old protege of Ice Cube, to a crafted artist, whose hypnotic voice has transcended the norm, taking underground Hip-Hop to an even deeper level.

CéU's success story in the past year has been phenomenal for the young artist out of Sao Paolo Brazil. Her self-titled debut has sold over 180,000 copies worldwide including Brazil, Canada, Japan, and Europe with close to 100,000 copies scanned in the U.S. alone. She was the first international artist featured in the Starbucks Hear Music™ Debut series which led to unprecedented Billboard chart numbers for a Brazilian female artist -- #1 on the World Music and Heatseekers Chart, and #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 – the highest position reached in that category by a Brazilian since Astrud Gilberto's "Garota de Ipanema" in the 1960's. Her album was also the iTunes U.S. editor's pick for "world music album of the year." If that wasn't enough, she received a Grammy nomination for "best contemporary world music album" in 2007 and a Latin Grammy nomination for "best new artist" in 2006.
Currently CéU is working on her follow-up album and will be embarking on a U.S. tour in 2009. She has performed over 60 shows around the world to audiences of over 50,000 fans and building. Her last 3 U.S. tours sold out and she is being sought out by bigger and bigger venues.

Join us for an afternoon of music with the Open Music Ensemble. The Open Music Ensemble is a cooperative of versatile, skilled musical improvisers and a pioneer in the development of “open music.” The Ensemble musicians allow the music they create to come through them, rather than try to create the music they play.

The Met has assembled a stellar cast for this second installment of Robert Lepage's new production of the Ring cycle, conducted by James Levine: Bryn Terfel is Wotan, lord of the Gods, in his first performances of the role with the company. Deborah Voigt adds the part of Brünnhilde to her extensive Wagnerian repertoire at the Met. Jonas Kaufmann and Eva-Maria Westbroek star as the Wälsungen twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, and Stephanie Blythe is Fricka.

While many people are familiar with Ambrosia's radio hits of the 70's, the songs on their five albums range also to progressive and experimental. They are as comfortable with ballads as with driving rock and roll. They can be serious, they can be playful, but always the music is rich, the harmonies are beautifully-blended, and even after twenty years it sounds great.
The founding members of Ambrosia grew up in Southern California in the area known as The South Bay, later adopting San Pedro as their home town. Their earliest musical influences came from The Beach Boys and The Beatles.
In an early incarnation of the band, Joe Puerta and David Pack began to experiment with harmonies. This led to an infatuation with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. After Christopher North and Burleigh Drummond joined, the four attended a show at the Whiskey a Go-Go to see an unknown (at the time), but highly recommended new band: King Crimson. That show would change their perception of music forever.
Other major influences on the music of Ambrosia include The Allman Brothers, The Sons of Champlin, Yes, The Who, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Traffic, Pink Floyd and later Genesis and Gentle Giant. Individually, David Pack always loved Motown and this is still very evident in his singing and song writing; Christopher North was classically trained but loves jazz and the blues; Burleigh Drummond had early training in stage acting; and Joe Puerta liked anything that had a tone.
A little known fact is Ambrosia's connection with The Alan Parsons Project. Alan Parsons himself was the engineer for Ambrosia's first album and the producer for their second; all four members of Ambrosia played on the first Alan Parsons Project album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination (which was recorded soon after Ambrosia's first album); and David Pack appears on the Alan Parsons Project album Try Anything Once (1993), co-writing, playing and providing vocals on two songs.
Ambrosia is still together (or more accurately, together again), still with the original four members, and they've been doing live performances for a number of years. There have been no new albums since 1982, but they have continued to write and perform new material!

Explore the composer's muse and the nature of musical inspiration with Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin, revived from the composer's arrangement of the original work for two harpsichords; and Arensky's riveting and beautiful Second Quartet, influenced by the music of his idol and countryman, Tchaikovsky.
Tickets to these concerts may be ordered by calling the Orchestra of St. Luke's at (212) 594-6100 or visiting www.OSLmusic.org.
Bohemian Rhapsodies -
Mahler, Piano Quartet in A Minor;
Arensky, Quartet no. 2 for Violin, Viola, and Two Cellos;
Schumann, Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 47. 7:30 p.m.
Single ticket: $45 for Non-Members; $35 for Members.
Single tickets are subject to availability.

Explore the composer's muse and the nature of musical inspiration with Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin, revived from the composer's arrangement of the original work for two harpsichords; and Arensky's riveting and beautiful Second Quartet, influenced by the music of his idol and countryman, Tchaikovsky.
Tickets to these concerts may be ordered by calling the Orchestra of St. Luke's at (212) 594-6100 or visiting www.OSLmusic.org.
Bohemian Rhapsodies -
Mahler, Piano Quartet in A Minor;
Arensky, Quartet no. 2 for Violin, Viola, and Two Cellos;
Schumann, Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 47. 7:30 p.m.
Single ticket: $45 for Non-Members; $35 for Members.
Single tickets are subject to availability.

David "Honeyboy" Edwards was born June 28, 1915 in Shaw, Mississippi. Honeyboy is one of the last living links to Robert Johnson, and one of the last original acoustic Delta blues players. He is a living legend, and his story is truly part of history. He is the real deal.
Honeyboy was a part of many of the seminal moments of the blues. As Honeyboy writes in "The World Don't Own Me Nothing", "...it was in '29 when Tommy Johnson come down from Crystal Springs, Mississippi. He was just a little guy, tan colored, easy-going; but he drank a whole lot. At nighttime, we'd go there and listen to Tommy Johnson play." Honeyboy continues, " Listening to Tommy, that's when I really learned something about how to play guitar."
Honeyboy's life has been intertwined with almost every major blues legend, including Robert Johnson, Charlie Patton, Big Joe Williams, Rice "Sonny Boy Williamson" Miller, Howlin' Wolf, Peetie Wheatstraw, Sunnyland Slim, Lightnin' Hopkins, Big Walter, Little Walter, Magic Sam, Muddy Waters, and ... well, let's just say the list goes on darn near forever!
In 1942, Alan Lomax recorded Honeyboy in Clarksdale, Mississippi for the Library of Congress. He recorded a total of fifteen sides of Honeyboy's music.
Honeyboy didn't record again commercially until 1951, when he recorded "Who May Your Regular Be" for Arc Records. Honeyboy also cut "Build A Cave" as 'Mr. Honey' for Artist.
Moving to Chicago in the early fifties, Honeyboy played small clubs and street corners with Floyd Jones, Johnny Temple, and Kansas City Red. In 1953, Honeyboy recorded several songs for Chess that remained un-issued until "Drop Down Mama" was included in an anthology release.
In 1972, Honeyboy met Michael Frank, and the two soon became fast friends. In 1976, they hit the North Side Blues scene as The Honeyboy Edwards Blues Band, as well as performing as a duo on occasion. Michael founded Earwig Records, and in 1979 Honeyboy and his friends Sunnyland Slim, Kansas City Red, Floyd Jones, and Big Walter Horton recorded "Old Friends".
Honeyboy's early Library of Congress performances and more recent recordings were combined on "Delta Bluesman", released by Earwig in 1992.
Honeyboy has written several blues hits, including "Long Tall Woman Blues", "Gamblin Man" and "Just Like Jesse James"
His latest release, Roamin and Ramblin, on the Earwig Music label, features Honeyboy's old school guitar and vocals - fresh takes on old gems and first time release of historic recordings. New 2007 sessions with harmonica greats Bobby Rush, Billy Branch and Johnny "Yard Dog" Jones, previously unreleased 1975 studio recordings of Honeyboy and Big Walter Horton, and circa 1976 concert tracks -- solo and with Sugar Blue. Michael Frank, Paul Kaye, Rick Sherry and Kenny Smith also play on the album on various tracks. Honeyboy and Bobby Rush also tell some short blues tales.
Honeyboy continues up and down the Blues Highway, traveling from juke joint to nightclub to festival, playing real Delta blues to adoring fans everywhere.

Solomon "Soul Glow Activatur" Olds and his fellow Atlanta, Georgia, groove-masters Family Force 5 were sated by the response to their last couple of albums, Dance Or Die and The Christmas Pageant, both released on their independent Transparent Media Group label last year. Dance or Die embodied everything the band is about; techno-pop dance-floor fillers, unrepentant emo anthems and rocky grooves that wouldn't be out of place at an aerobics class for pole-dancers. And their Pageant plan: Make Christmas funky.
Soli and his band—brothers Jacob (aka "Crouton," drums) and Joshua (aka "Phatty," bass), guitarist Derek "Chap Stique" Mount and keyboard/Family Force 5000 player Nathan "Nadaddy" Currin—are getting the party started all over the globe these days. Releasing their first batch of material in the UK, the band is bringing its inspiring live show to the mainstage of Sonisphere festival at Knebworth as well as their own headline tour dates across England and Ireland which follow a sold out stint with Cobra Starship earlier in the year. This onslaught has brought critical acclaim from the likes of Kerrang! and significant airtime on Radio 1 which has only served to strengthen the band's rapidly growing UK fanbase.
The Brothers Olds have been doing things their way since the band's inception. Originally they had formed Ground Noise, a unit that aligned itself with the twin legacies of Southern rock and insurgent "y'all-ternative" country, despite their personal tastes being immersed in hip-hop, electronics-based dance music and the funkier end of alternative rock, a la Red Hot Chili Peppers and Rage Against The Machine. Later, they re-christened themselves the Phamily, discovered the ground-quaking grooves they had inside them and began the arduous crusade of ruling the Atlanta club scene. Thanks to the enormous hipshaking buzz they had created with their big beats, guitar firepower and Soli's impressive MC-ing, word about the band was spreading. It wasn't long until attorneys for Prince issued a cease-and-desist order about their name. (The Family was the ad hoc outfit the Purple One put together to record "Nothing Compares 2 U.") Undaunted, the quintet carried on under the banner of Family Force 5, tearing up crowds that grew numb to nümetal's Cookie Monster-sounding excess. It wasn't long before the band signed with Maverick Records, issuing their debut album, Business Up Front, Party In The Back in 2006.
At their best, FF5's dealings with the major-label machine were tenuous. Crowds culled from assorted music subcultures (rock, punk,metal, alt-rock, hip hop) were taken by the band's show, but the label didn't know what to do with the band and they inevitably, parted ways in 2007. They celebrated the occasion by going out on that year's Vans Warped Tour, rejuvenating both the crowds and themselves. Coming off the high they got from the Warped dates, the band decided to create their own label (Transparent Media Group), and release their next album, Dance Or Die, themselves. Infectious in its enthusiasm, Dance was a near-perfect amalgam of dense grooves ("Radiator"), synthesizer-driven funk (the title track), techno-pop nostalgia ("How In The World") and inspired emo ("The First Time") that seemingly erased the lines of demarcation between dirty rock clubs and cosmopolitan dancefloors.
The band's knowledge of their fanbase and close connection to the kids that bought over 350,000 digital singles and over 150,000 copies of their debut album created a strong brand that didn't need a major label behind it to succeed. After a busy 2009—which included compiling a remix album (Dance Or Die With A Vengeance), teaming up with Target for an exclusive EP, touring extensively and unveiling Christmas Pageant—the band was asked to record a track for Hot Topic's ALMOST ALICE ALICE IN WONDERLAND soundtrack. "Topsy Turvy" was released March 5, 2010. The band is currently writing new material for their third album, tentatively slated for release in early 2011 and planning an international full length debut in late 2010. Anyone familiar to their mythology knows, when Family Force 5 activate their collective booty-movin' powers, there's not a single rock club, dance floor or house party they cannot vanquish…

Dicapo's 2010-11 season concludes with Tchaikovsky's celebrated opera Eugene Onegin, Pushkin's story of a selfish hero who lives to regret his callous rejection of a young woman's love – and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend. The libretto follows closely Pushkin's immortal novel written in verse. First performed at Moscow's Maly Theatre in 1879, Eugene Onegin conveys the romance and drama of a vanished world that the passage of time has reduced to the mere dimensions of a paperweight filled with snow. Born in Kiev, Moscow Conservatory-trained conductor Semyon Vekshtein last performed Onegin – with its unforgettable solo aria for Tatyana in the "Letter Scene" and the famous waltz and polonaise – in a joint production of the Montreal Opera and Florentine Opera Milwaukee. This new production will be Dicapo's second Russian opera in its history; the first was Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, presented in 1997. $50.

The Met has assembled a stellar cast for this second installment of Robert Lepage's new production of the Ring cycle, conducted by James Levine: Bryn Terfel is Wotan, lord of the Gods, in his first performances of the role with the company. Deborah Voigt adds the part of Brünnhilde to her extensive Wagnerian repertoire at the Met. Jonas Kaufmann and Eva-Maria Westbroek star as the Wälsungen twins, Siegmund and Sieglinde, and Stephanie Blythe is Fricka.

Charismatic, talented and deeply profound, Celso Duarte has been recognized as a virtuoso of the harp by international critics and artists. His expertise extends mainly to the Paraguayan harp, Celtic harp and Mexican Jarocha harp. Duarte explores folkloric
genres and melds the traditional styles with jazz, Brazilian or Afro-Peruvian sounds.
Tickets:
General admission - FREE
Admission is free but a ticket is required

Sanchez is known as a singer/performer who can transform his audience into a mass choir at his live performances. He epitomizes elegance and style and is always splendidly attired in a formal suit, enhanced with gold chains and bracelets, giving fans the ultimate in appearance and presentation. His selection of songs range from soulful R&B to hardcore Dancehall, Reggae, balanced with religiously calming cuts that enhance the spiritual vibes of his act.

Explore the composer's muse and the nature of musical inspiration with Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin, revived from the composer's arrangement of the original work for two harpsichords; and Arensky's riveting and beautiful Second Quartet, influenced by the music of his idol and countryman, Tchaikovsky.
Tickets to these concerts may be ordered by calling the Orchestra of St. Luke's at (212) 594-6100 or visiting www.OSLmusic.org.
Bohemian Rhapsodies -
Mahler, Piano Quartet in A Minor;
Arensky, Quartet no. 2 for Violin, Viola, and Two Cellos;
Schumann, Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, op. 47. 7:30 p.m.
Single ticket: $45 for Non-Members; $35 for Members.
Single tickets are subject to availability.

2011 is James Cotton's 67th year in the entertainment business. What an amazing adventure this man is experiencing with his little harmonica. Congratulations SUPERHARP!
"We're talking about the blues, loud and fast and getting down dirty, we're talking about James Cotton, a singer, stomper, and harp-player extraordinaire." - New York Daily News
The musical pedigree of Grammy Award winner James 'Superharp' Cotton consists of a veritable who's who in the world of the Blues. Inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006, the Smithsonian Institute in 1991, and winner of countless W.C. Handy Blues Awards, he has shared the stage with B.B. King, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, the Allman Brothers, Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Sam and Dave, The Grateful Dead among many others.
An orphan at the age of nine, he was raised in Mississippi by his mentor, Sonny Boy Williamson, who remains famous for his many unique songs and innovative Delta Blues harmonica style. As a young teenager Cotton befriended Howlin Wolf and joined forces with him playing Mississippi and Arkansas juke joints for two years. During that time Cotton hosted his own afternoon radio show in West Memphis, AR and also recorded 'Cotton Crop Blues' and three other songs on Sun Records in Memphis. In 1954 when Muddy Waters needed a harmonica player, he found Cotton playing a club in Arkansas and took him to Chicago. Cotton remained with Waters for 12 years not only playing shows but also recording with him on Chess Records. One of the highlights of that period came when Cotton arranged the ever-popular anthem for the blues, 'Got My Mojo Workin', which was played for the first time by the Muddy Waters Band at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1961.
In 1966 Cotton formed his James Cotton Blues Band which continues to showcase his immense talent and keeps him one of the most sought-after, hard-driving, seminal blues musicians touring the world today.
Cotton passionately explains, My audience always tells me how I'm doing. If I look out there and don't like what I see, I work harder. His audiences are still on their feet, they enjoy themselves as much as he does, and there continue to be standing ovations night after night. You will have a memorable evening with an international treasure and a true Living Legend of the Blues.

In glitzy jackets, glittering gloves and 80s regalia, Who's Bad, The Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute Band, is an infectious party production that takes audiences on a musical expedition spanning three decades of Michael Jackson's chart-cresting music.
From ABC to You Rock My World no song is forgotten in this electrifying revival of Pop Music's Royal Highness. Founded in 2004 by Vamsi Tadepalli and spearheaded by some of North Carolina's optimum musicians, Who's Bad has crafted an intricate performance complete with synchronized dance routines, blaring horn section and down-deep rhythms--each delivered with a precision that could only be superseded by the King himself. Since their first standing-room only concert, audiences have crowned them must-see entertainment singing along as if the moves, the music, and the memories belong to us all.

Chick rock at its best: The Audible Dark will release it's sophomore EP at a special show at The National Underground on May 6 at 11:00 pm. Grittier and more intense than The Audible Dark's self-titled debut EP, "Rainbows & Roses" combines honest, transparent lyricism with the attitude of pop-punk -- and its fast beats and searing guitars.
Produced and engineered by Anthony "Rocky" Gallo, whose credits include John Legend and Carrie Underwood, "Rainbows & Roses" contains a pair of radio-ready tracks, with hard-driving rhythms and instantly memorable melodies. "These songs are intensely personal, written at a time of real soul searching," says Stephanie Logan, songwriter and frontwoman, "but it's still rock."
"Rainbows & Roses" will be available on the band's website (theaudibledark.com) as well as on iTunes and Amazon.com.

"There is in the music of Ibrahim Maalouf, memories of laughter and tears, traces of war and peace, the presence of nostalgia and euphoria, but still springs the promise of life.’ - Mondomix
Ibrahim Maalouf - Trumpet;
Frank Woeste - Piano.
Making his first ever performance at Alwan, sensational Lebanese-French trumpeter and composer Ibrahim Maalouf teams up with celebrated jazz pianist Frank Woeste to perform a unique mix of classical, contemporary, jazz and Arab music compositions.
About Ibrahim Maalouf:
The year was 1980, and as soon as he was born, Ibrahim Maalouf was uprooted from his motherland of Lebanon. He kept the music of his childhood buried inside for many years, and later this homesickness helped him to develop his musical world, urging him to share it with others.
Born in Beirut, Ibrahim grew up and lived his exile in France in a family that has become well-known after several generations in different fields such as music, painting, journalism, poetry, literature and teaching. Ibrahim discovered trumpet with his father Nassim Maalouf - a former student of Maurice André and the first Arab trumpeter to play Western classical music. He studied modern, classical, baroque and contemporary concertos, and at the same time was surrounded by Arab classical, ethnic and traditional music, which are based on arab music "maqams" that he is able to reproduce due to his father's invention in the late sixties of the quarter-tone trumpet (with a fourth valve). His unique style is a heady mix of jazz, funk and improvisation steeped in western classical and Arab music. In Europe he has become a noted figure on the electro-jazz scene, bringing his style to modern funk and electronica acts, but his music also has a mystical, contemplative quality that sets him apart from most contemporary players.
Ibrahim has received numerous prestigious diplomas, honorary awards and international prizes. Named ‘Discovery of the Year’ at the 2010 French Jazz Music Awards, he has played with such renowned artists as Amadou and Mariam, Sting, Salif Keita, Toumani Diabate, Matthieu Chédid (aka M) and the legendary Lebanese composer/singer and oud player Marcel Khalife. In 2009 he made his debut at the Barbican Centre as part of the London Jazz Festival. His discography includes Diasporas, released in 2007, and Diachronism, released in 2009.
Frank Woeste was born in Germany in 1976 and grew up in a family of musicians. As a teenager Frank took piano lessons at the Bremen Conservatory and jammed at the local jazzclub with local jazz musicians. After spending a year in the United States, he moved to Paris in 1997 to study at the Paris Conservatoire, which served as a meeting point for many young artists, enabling him to rapidly engage with the Parisian music scene. After graduating from the Conservatoire in 2001, he won a number of 1st or 2nd prizes in international jazz competitions, including the Steinway Prize at the Montreux Piano Competition, the Jazz Hoeilaart International Competition and the Gexto European Jazzcontest, where he was noticed as a rising young talent by such musicians as trumpet player Médéric Collignon and singer Youn Sun Nah. In 2003 he formed his own trio with Mathias Allamane on bass and Matthieu Chazarenc on drums. Their debut album, Mind at Play (2005) on Challenge Records, garnered very good reviews in the European jazz magazines. The album began to be played on many national radio stations, including France Musique, France Culture, TSF, Deutschland Radio, Bayrischer Rundfunk, and NDR, earning the prize "Jazzmigrations 2006" (Afijma), and launching them on a tour of jazz festivals in France as well in Asia and the Middle East through "Cultures France." In 2007 The Frank Woeste Trio recorded their second album, Untold Stories.
In addition to his ensemble and solo work, Frank performs regularly with Médéric Collignon, Ibrahim Maalouf and Flavio Boltro. He is noted for his unique sound on the Fender Rhodes which combines the natural sound of the the Rhodes piano with different effects. In recent years he has shared the stage with many great musicians, including Michel Portal, Louis Sclavis, Dave Douglas, John Scofield, Rosario Guliani, Malik Mezzadri, Dominic Miller, Till Bronner, Stephane Belmondo, André Ceccarelli, Aldo Romano, Sylvain Luc, Nelson Veras, and Gretchen Parlato. He has played at many noted music festivals, including Jazz à Vienne, Jazz in Marsiac, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Paris Jazz Festival, Ginza Jazzfestival Tokio, London Jazz Festival, among others. His latest album, W - Double You, featuring his trio with a woodwind section and Malik Mezzadri, was released in January 2011.

Dicapo's 2010-11 season concludes with Tchaikovsky's celebrated opera Eugene Onegin, Pushkin's story of a selfish hero who lives to regret his callous rejection of a young woman's love – and his careless incitement of a fatal duel with his best friend. The libretto follows closely Pushkin's immortal novel written in verse. First performed at Moscow's Maly Theatre in 1879, Eugene Onegin conveys the romance and drama of a vanished world that the passage of time has reduced to the mere dimensions of a paperweight filled with snow. Born in Kiev, Moscow Conservatory-trained conductor Semyon Vekshtein last performed Onegin – with its unforgettable solo aria for Tatyana in the "Letter Scene" and the famous waltz and polonaise – in a joint production of the Montreal Opera and Florentine Opera Milwaukee. This new production will be Dicapo's second Russian opera in its history; the first was Tchaikovsky's Iolanta, presented in 1997. $50.

Ottmar Liebert harnesses the emotional fire and mournful tonalities of traditional Flamenco music, updates it with the subtle rhythms of Jazz and makes it widely accessible with the melodic song structures of Pop. The acoustic guitarist summed it up with the apt comment that Nouveau Flamenco is to the traditional variety what Bossa Nova is to Samba. But even the cleverest formulas are worthless without the animating spark of genius, a quality for which there is no formula, only serendipity.

100 Monkeys is an independent funk rock band from Los Angeles, California. The band name comes from the idea of the "Hundredth Monkey Effect" in which a learned behavior spreads instantaneously from one group of monkeys to all related monkeys once a critical number is reached. The current members of the group are Ben Graupner, Jackson Rathbone, Jerad Anderson, Ben Johnson, and Lawrence Abrams. The band has recently risen to fame due in part to the popularity of member Jackson Rathbone, an actor who plays the character Jasper in the Twilight Saga movie series. Rathbone has given interviews about his work as a musician on MTV and VH1.

See Aurora Reyes and Basilio Georges of Flamenco Latino at Meson Asturias restaurant on Saturday nights! Flamenco singing and dancing with LIVE music- great for the whole family. Shows at 9PM and 11PM. #7 to 82nd St. (at Roosevelt), or E, F, R to Roosevelt Ave. (at 74th). For reservations: 718-446-9154. NO COVER.

Study Flamenco guitar with Basilio Georges of Flamenco Latino, whether you're a beginner or an experienced player looking for a great teacher! His classes focus on strengthening your playing by achieving the correct right and left hand techniques, and increase your understanding of Flamenco within the context of dance and singing accompaniment. With over 30 years of professional experience, Basilio offers an incredible mix of traditional and modern styles and techniques, and is also able to work with written music or tablature. Fluent in Spanish, he has lived and worked in Spain and accompanied many well known artists throughout his career. To learn more, visit http://www.flamencolatino.com/class.htm. A single one-hour class is $70. A 4-pack is $200 ($50/hour), paid in advance. If you do a trial lesson at $70, but decide to continue studying, you may upgrade to a 4-pack; however, you must pay a the prorated balance of $130 within one week of the trial lesson. Open time slots include weekday and weekend afternoons and some evening time. Also, Group Guitar classes in cante accompaniment now available for intermediate level guitarists. Tues. 8-9:30. $20 for single class, 4-pack for $70. You must interview by phone or in person, and reserve space in class.
Lessons are held at Flamenco Latino Studio, 244 W 54th Street, 4th fl. Call Basilio at 212-399-8519

Flamenco Latino offers a group Cante Class with Alfonso Cid (mixed students). Work on forms such as tangos, sevillanas, fandangos, alegrias, bulerias. Will include review of both Manuel Gago material and Alfonso Cid material. Mondays, 8:30-9:45 pm, new 4-pack of classes for $70.00! (ONLY $17.50/class!) Call 212-399-8519 to reserve.

Sky View Center, Queens’ newest shopping center presents Sky View Celebrates! A Sunday Music Spectacular featuring CenterStage: The Queens Center for the Performing Arts. The show-stopping series will run through the summer and feature a variety of jazz, classical string quartets, piano and percussion performances by the talented students and all-star faculty of CenterStage.
The Pop Broadway Show performance will feature the sounds of Broadway, R&B and Pop featuring Dakota MacLeod (vocals) and Ray Naccari (piano). The event will take place at Sky View Center on Level D offering visitors a chance to enjoy the various musical talents of the local community while shopping around Sky View Center.